divide and conquer

A little status check-in. I'm currently reading Middlemarch for Middlemay, but I have some extra reading time (have I mentioned this project has made me into a hyperactive reader?!). I reeeeally don't want to rush ahead with Middlemarch, because I quite enjoyed reading the first book in anticipation of our check-in, and I think if I tried to speed it up or read more of it I would enjoy it less.

But I do have some other monsters on my list. I decided to sit down today and divide a couple of them up into weekly chunks, too.

The first is Gotham, the 1999 Pulitzer prizewinning history of New York City, which clocks in at around 1,300 pages. A friend bought this for me for a birthday on a year that was closer to the book's publication year than the current year we're in. That was a large part of the reason I put this book on my list--I HAD to at least give it a shot. I divided it into 3-chapter chunks, each of which is about 40 pages. Seems manageable, right? My plan is to take it this slowly, take notes where I'm inspired to, and try to absorb as much trivia as possible. I love New York history, and would dearly love to be smarter about it. If I stick to it, I'll be able to finish the book in late October. We'll see.

The second is a history of the Crusades called God's War, by Christopher Tyerman. I was SO excited about this book when it came out back in like 2005 that I shelled out $35 for a hardcover (which, obviously, I've never read). It's 900 pages, and I've divided it into 8 sections based on the table of contents, roughly one for each Crusade and a couple other topics. I've read so much about the Crusades already that I'm not planning on noting this, just reading it as if it were "fun."

Aaaand because all three of these books (Middlemarch, God's War, and Gotham) are too heavy to carry, I'm also reading The Secret Life of Bees. So if I don't check in with any finished books for awhile, you'll know my excuses.

Is anyone else dividing books up like this? Or have you done it in the past? I figured a syllabus got me through stuff in college; all I need is a little organization.